Psychology Terms A–Z

The vagus nerve is a long nerve running from the brain to the internal organs that regulates rest and relaxation responses.

Unprocessed trauma refers to a state where shocking or painful past experiences remain stored in the mind without being fully worked through psychologically. Even years later, certain situations can suddenly bring those same emotions rushing back.

The founder of Flow theory, who scientifically studied the optimal experience of becoming completely absorbed in an activity. He showed that in a state of flow, people experience the highest levels of happiness and fulfillment.

Unresolved grief refers to a state where the grieving process becomes stuck and cannot naturally progress after the loss of a loved one. The sorrow remains unprocessed, lingering deep within the heart.

A legal process used when someone is in severe mental health crisis and may be at serious risk to themselves or others.

Ethnic identity is an aspect of one's self-concept that includes the awareness of belonging to a specific ethnic group, along with the feelings, attitudes, and behaviors associated with that membership.

A famous psychology experiment that studied obedience to authority. It demonstrated that ordinary people can engage in extreme behaviors when directed by an authority figure.

Enmeshment is a relationship pattern where personal boundaries become so blurred that individuals' emotions and identities become intertwined, making it difficult to tell where one person ends and another begins.

Body image is how you see, think, and feel about your body. It can affect confidence, mood, relationships, and daily life more than people often realize.

An approach that encourages respect, acceptance, and kindness toward your body.

A training method that helps you notice and regulate body signals like heart rate or muscle tension.

Disenfranchised grief is grief over a loss that is not openly acknowledged, publicly mourned, or socially supported. It's the loneliness of grieving when others don't validate your loss.

A psychological assessment method that follows a set of prepared questions while allowing flexible, conversational exploration.

The process of grieving and healing in a healthy way after losing a beloved pet.

Repetitive Negative Thinking is a pattern where negative thoughts — like worries, regrets, or self-criticism — keep cycling through your mind and are difficult to escape.

Antisocial personality disorder is a persistent pattern of disregarding and violating the rights of others, characterized by deceitfulness, impulsivity, irresponsibility, and lack of remorse.

Reflective practice means consciously looking back on your own experiences and actions to turn them into learning and growth. It's not simple repetition, but a process of finding better directions through deep self-examination.

Response prevention is a therapeutic technique where you practice resisting the urge to perform habitual avoidance or compulsive behaviors in anxiety-provoking situations. It plays a central role in treating OCD, typically used alongside exposure therapy.

A condition where a child struggles to form healthy attachments due to serious problems in early caregiving environments.

A thinking pattern in which negative thoughts or feelings are repeatedly revisited and dwelled upon.

An eating-related disorder in which a person repeatedly regurgitates food they have already swallowed, and is deeply connected to psychological factors.

Echopraxia is the phenomenon of involuntarily mimicking another person's movements or actions. It is not intentional imitation, but a neurological symptom that occurs automatically.

Trauma experienced in childhood, especially during early developmental stages, that has wide-ranging effects on overall development.

Developmental therapy systematically supports a child's growth in cognition, emotions, social skills, and motor abilities according to their developmental stage. It helps each child grow healthily at their own pace.

A condition where a child's development in areas like motor skills, language, cognition, or social skills is slower than their peers.

Trichotillomania is a condition where a person feels recurring urges to pull out their own hair, eyebrows, or other body hair.

Divergent thinking is a way of thinking that freely generates multiple creative solutions to a single problem. It's the kind of thinking that shines when faced with open-ended questions that have no single correct answer.

Speech anxiety refers to feeling intense nervousness and fear when speaking or presenting in front of others. It's a natural experience many people share, but if it's interfering with your daily life, support is available.

Feeling nervous before a presentation is a completely natural response. A healthy level of nervousness can actually help you perform better.

This refers to methods for calming the anxiety and worry that can arise at night before falling asleep. Concerns that felt manageable during the day can feel much larger at night, but there are effective ways to handle them.

Healthy ways to handle the loneliness and emptiness that tend to creep in once the day is over and the night gets quiet.

The tendency for people to help less when many others are also present.

Unconscious psychological strategies used to protect oneself from anxiety or distressing thoughts. They operate automatically to shield the ego from painful emotions and unacceptable impulses.

Defense analysis is the therapeutic work of exploring and understanding the unconscious psychological defense mechanisms a client uses during counseling. It's a process of discovering the patterns the mind uses to protect itself.

Defensiveness is the automatic reaction of making excuses or counter-attacking to protect yourself when you hear criticism or complaints.

A parenting style lacking both warmth and control, where the parent fails to adequately respond to the child's emotional and physical needs.

Pyromania is an impulse control disorder where a person repeatedly feels a strong urge to set fires and finds it very difficult to resist that urge.

A deep emotional wound that can happen when someone you trusted hurts or betrays you.

The psychological shock and recovery process after being betrayed by someone you trusted. Betrayal shatters the foundation of trust in a relationship, leaving deep wounds.

Jury psychology studies what psychological factors influence jurors when making judgments in a trial. Understanding the human mind deeply is essential for ensuring a fair trial.

A concept describing the defensive and uncomfortable reactions that members of dominant racial groups display in conversations about race. It is a psychological phenomenon that makes discussions of racial privilege particularly difficult.

White matter is brain tissue made up of bundles of nerve fibers that connect different regions of the brain, appearing white because they are wrapped in a fatty substance called myelin.

It's an intense fear of being left behind or rejected by someone important to you. This creates deep anxiety in relationships.

A persistent fear of being left or rejected by important people, leading to anxiety, clinging behavior, or avoidance in relationships.

Known as the 'Mother of Family Therapy,' Virginia Satir believed that communication patterns within the family have a profound impact on an individual's self-esteem and mental well-being.

Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by long-term stress, especially when you have been pushing yourself for too long without enough rest.

The process of slowly getting your energy, focus, and sense of self back after burnout.

Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive stress. Recovery is absolutely possible — don't give up.

Flourishing goes beyond simply having no problems — it's a rich psychological state where you feel meaning and purpose in life and are actively expressing your full potential. It represents the fullest expression of genuine happiness.

A condition where excessive, hard-to-control worry about many different things persists for 6 months or more.